Sleeve layer



March 7, 1950 D. w; SESSIONS 2,499,931

' SLEEVE LAYER Filed Dec 12, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Mar. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE r v SLEEVE LAYER Donald W. Sessions, Lansing, Mich.

Application December 12, 1946, Serial No. 715,831

This invention relates to a mechanism de signed for the purpose of enhacing and facilitating the ironing of shirts or like garments by providing a means which will more efilciently iron sleeves in a quicker period of time than has been possible by present market devices and methods.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a means which can be combined with a pair of garment presses and which possesses the necessary equipment for quickly placing the sleeves of a shirt in pressing relation with respect to the ironing presses which then perform the dual function of ironing both'sleeves simultaneously.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve ironer of this type which is capable of movement toward and away from the heated shoes or heads of the presses so as to facilitate the placing of the sleeves of a shirt upon the sleeve holders thereof and to permit the removal of the ironed shirt sleeves from said holders with a minimum of danger to the operator manipulating the device from being burned by the heated heads of the adjacent presses.

- Another object of the present invention is to provide a movable means having suitable mechanisms which support the sleeve holders in such a manner as to permit such holders to be moved toward and away from the presses to facilitate applying and removing shirt sleeves therefrom, and which mechanism also provides a means for moving the sleeve holders toward and away from the ironing surfaces of the presses whenever such sleeve holders have been brought into operative relation with respect to the ironing surface of such presses.

Another advantageous feature of the present invention is to provide a single manually o1oe'r--- able means for actuating the device in its dual function of bringing the sleeve holders into ironing relation with respect to the presses and to also move the sleeve holders toward the ironing surfaces and away therefrom before and after ironing the sleeves of a shirt.

This dual function of the manually operable mechanism with the embodiment of a single hand controlled means for performing such dual functions, in combination with synchronized and simultaneously operating presses, considerably reduces the time of operation required in ironing the sleeves of a shirt. The simultaneous ironing .of ,the shirt s1eeves,.'in asingle operation further reduces the time requiredin ironin shirts.

' The above named functions and operations are 5 Claims. (01. 223-57) further enhanced and simplified by the compactness of the mechanism employed for placing shirts upon the presses and removing the same therefrom.

f The present invention embodies sleeve holders which are designed for support in a manner so that smaller size sleeves can be readily accommodated through the automatic adjustment of such sleeve holders which in this particular device comprise open wire lops or forms having all of their parts lying in the same plane. Such sleeve holders comprise wire forms which are releasably attached to'the movable mechanism which positions such forms in relation to the press bucks.

As a further object, the wire forms are also provided with means at their outer ends which function to permit contraction of the placket portion of the sleeve holders to accommodate smaller size plackets. Furthermore, the means for accomplishing the foregoing contraction of the placket portion of the forms also perform the dual function of separating or spreading the adjacent portions of the ironed sleeves to more efiiciently permit the stripping of ironed sleeves from the wire forms of the sleeve layer.

The sleeve layer of the present design is of a simple sturdy construction and may be supported directly from adjacent presses or may be supported independently from other means disposed adjacent to the presses. Furthermore, the device is not in a position where it will be heated from the heated shoes of the presses and the wire forms are light in construction so as not to retain the ironing heat applied to the sleeves for any considerable length of time. Furthermore, the operating means including the manually operable handle does not become heated due to the location and the normal sphere of operation thereof which is considerably forwardly of the presses and away from the heads of shoes there-' of.

All other objects and advantages relating to the device of the present construction adapted for the purpose of laying sleeves into ironing posi- ;tions upon the ironing surfaces of a pair of adjace'ntly' disposed garment presses shall hereinafter appear in the following detailed description having reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In'the-drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a mechanism compris-- ing the sleevelayef of the present invention illus-l amejas mounted-between two gar-'-{ merit presses, this entire" combination being utl-" li'zed for illie purpose of simultaneously pressing 3 a pair of sleeves of a shirt or other similar garment;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the general arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the sleeve layer on an enlarged scale from that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 to better illustrate certain details of construction thereof;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the sleeve layer per se illustrated on the same scale as that shown in Fig. 3 with the press details indicated in broken lines;

Fig. 5 is a detailed cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 in Fig. 4 show:

ing certain constructional features of the opportion of one of the wire sleeve forms illustrating the contractible nature thereof. 7 Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 an 2, the sleeve layer is generally indicated at I supported between the garment presses 2 and 3. For all practical purposes the presses 2 and 3 may be identical and each constitutes a conventional form of press having'the usual heated heads or shoes 4 and 5 which are movable toward and away from the ironing surfaces of the bucks 6 and The pressing units 4 and 5 shall hereinafter be referred to as shoes, and although the presses 2 and 3 may be separate and identical, the sleeve layer may also be adapted for use in a press having two bucks with a single head or shoe adapted to extend acrossboth bucks spanning the sleeve layer positioned therebetween.

The presses 2 and 3 as shown in Fig. 1 are supported through the instrumentality of the usual standards 8 and 9. In this'constl'uction and as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the sleeve layer is supported by means of a bracket Ill secured to. and extending between the standards 8 and 8. The bracket, I is secured by any suitable means to the main frame: formin the base of the sleeve layer I. be constructed to fit particular installations and for the purpose of best accommodating the sleeve layer under certainconditions of operation. The frame illustrated in the drawingsvisgcomposed of a plurality of; composite. welded metal pieces which rigidly support-apair of top braces-I2- and B that are spaced and positioned in. the same plane. V

A pair of, tracks l4 and are fastened to the. braces l2 and I3 and are positionedto extend between the presses 2 and 3 and obviously transversely of the same and with respect to the aligned bucks. (Sand 1 of suchpresses.

The tracks l4 and 5' provide the'guideway for a suitable carriage having as its main elements the track engaging channels -|6 and E1 securely connected. by means of. across head l8 at the forward end and a cross brace H3 at the rear ends thereof. The track and channel arrangement is best illustrated in Fig. 5. The. carriage 20 is; adapted for rotatably supporting. a pair of parallel tubes 2|.and.,22. These tubesv are; con nected by means ofagear train such as illustrated in Fig. 5 with tubes 2! and-22 being fixedly connected with the gears;23-. and 24 respectively;

The frame may The gears 25 and 26 are interposed between gears 23 and 24 with the gear 26 acting in the capacity of an idler gear arranged for the purpose of producing opposite rotation of the rotatable tube 22 with respect to tube 2| upon rotation of the gear 25.

A shaft 21 is secured to the gear 25 and is journalled in the cross head I8 and also in the forward wall 28 of a housing 29 that is secured to the cross head I 8 and this housing encloses and provides a cover for all of the gears in the gear train to protect such gears from lint and other foreign materials and hard objects and also to protect the shirts from contact with such gears which are normally lubricated.

A handle 30 is fixedly secured to the protruding end of the shaft 21 for the purpose of rotating the gears to produce opposite rotation of the tubes 2| and 22. Furthermore, the handle 30 provides the manual means by which the carriage 2D and its associated parts may be moved forwardly or backwardly along the tracks l4 and I5 and the extent of such movement is governed by suitable limitpins. The rearward movement of the carriage is stopped by means of the cross brace l9 striking against the pins 3| and 32 suitably positioned along the tracks M and I5. The forward movement of the carriage is limited by means of similar pins such as 33 and 34 best shown in Figs. 3 and 5 which extend downwardly from the channels I6 and I! and are positioned to strike the edge of the rear brace |3 of the frame II.

It should be noted that the channels 6 and l! are, also held in operative seated engagement with the, tracks I4 and I5 by the pair of angle brackets 35 and 36 which are fastened to the cross brace I3 and which extend up and over each. of the channels which slide beneath such brackets.

Each of therotatable tubes 2| and Rare provided for the purpose of supporting suitable sleeve holders constituting the wire forms 31 and 38 which are normally secured to the tubes for direct rotation therewith and for bodily fore and aft movement with the carriage 2B. As best seen in Fig. 1, each of the wire forms comprises an open loop substantially the shape and size. of a maximum size sleeve which will require pressing. Such form loops each comprise a continuous spring wire having upstanding wire sides 39 and 40 of resilient material that terminate at their outer ends ina connecting wire 4| deformed to form an inwardly pointing v 42 disposed between the wires 39 and. 40, all of such wires be.- ing disposed in a common plane arranged for receiving a sleeve and. to transpose such sleeve from receiving position down upon the ironing surface of a press buck for contact by the ironing shoe.

The inturned V portions 42 of the sleeve forms are. provided tocarry out a twofold purpose. As

illustrated in Fig. 8, such V 42 introduces sufficient resiliency into the placket and of the.

wire. 4| to permit contraction thereof as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 8. In this manner smaller size Dlackets can be accommodated through the separate adjacent, sleeve portions as the same have been ironed and during thev time that suchv sleeve is being removed from the sleeve for. 3'1 or 38. The V. 4.2. gradually separates the two adjacent portions of the sleeve after ironing which normally stick together, thereby eliminating distortion and wrinkling while stripping a sleeve from the sleeve form and thereby eliminating the more inefiicient separation which would occur if the sleeve were stripped from a sleeve form having a straight cross wire 4| without the deformation 42 as will be understood by anyone skilled in the art.

As hereinbefore referred to, the sleeve forms 3! and 38 are preferably releasable from the tubular members 2| and 22 for purposes of replacement or interchange as the case might be. Furthermore, it is also a purpose of the present design to permit contraction of the sleeve forms at the point of connection and with respect to the tubes 2| and 22 respecively. This particular arrangement may be best conceived by reference to Figs. 6 and 7. The latter both relate to the fastenings of the ends of the wires 39 and 40 of the wire form 38 to the tube 22. The rear wire 4! is insertable through a slot 43 in tube 22 and into a relatively tight fitting bore 44 drilled in a slidable plug 45 confined within tube 22. Plug 45 may be provided with any suitable means to prevent rotation thereof relative to the tube 22 so that the bore 44 will stay in line with the slot 43. As shown in Fig. 6, the plug 45 is provided with parallel ears 46 that straddle a cross pin 41 secured to the tube 22. The end of the wire 40 is frictionally held within the bore 44, but to further secure such wire against withdrawal, a spring pressed detent 48 having a tapered and serrated face which is normally urged against the wire 40 by means of a spring 49, such detent operating within the bore 50 of the plug 45.

A second plug 5| is suitably secured within the tube 22 by means of indentations 52 and 53 and provides a seat 54 for holding and positioning the spring 49. With the mechanism described the wire 4!) is capable of movement from the full line position shown in Fig. 6 to the broken line position 55 thereby providing suitable contractible means for reducing the distance between the wire 40 and its cooperating adjacent wire 39 for automatically accommodating smaller shirt sleeve s1zes.

The other wire 39 of the sleeve wire form is insertable through an opening 56 and into the bore 5! of a plug 58. The plug 58 is provided with internal bore 59 and a suitable screw cap 80 closing the bore. A detent 6| similar to the detent G8 in Fig. 6 is urged against the wire 39 by means of a spring 62 also confined within the bore by means of the cap 60. The entire unit in this case is held against rotary or endwise movement relative to the tube 22 by means of indentations 63 and 54 which also secure the bore 5'! in alignment with respect to the opening 5'6 to permit easy entry of the wire 39 during replacement or otherwise.

From the description of the present device it is seen that the sleeve layer provides a means for moving sleeve forms or holders toward and away from the heated shoes of the presses for allowing the placing of shirt sleeves upon the sleeve holders and for removing such shirt sleeves therefrom without endangering the operator who with a normal amount of caution will thereby be protected from receiving burns from the heated press shoes. Furthermore, the operative mechanism of this device as controlled by the single handle 30 which also permits moving the shirt sleeves toward and away from the ironing sur- 6 faces of the bucks through which action the sleeve holders simultaneously position the sleeves of a shirt upon the ironing surfaces of the presses and the presses are conventionally synchronized to simultaneously operate and complete the pressing operation in one action.

It should be noted that in Fig. 4 the carriage has been drawn forwardly by slipping the fingers about the knob 65 0f the handle 30 and by pulling the same toward the operator. When the knob 65 of the handle 36 is in vertical position as indicated inFigs. 3, 4 and 5, the sleeve forms are also disposed in vertical position which is the shirt sleeve receiving position with the carriage disposed forwardly and away from the heated ironing shoes. By pushing against the knob 65 to move the carriage rearwardly against the pins 3| and 32, the sleeve holders are brought into the vertical plane of the presses so that rotation of the handle by knob 65 to the right and downwardly into the positions indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 will move the sleeve holders oppositely outwardly and thereby swing the same into a common plane substantially coincident with'the iron-' ing surfaces of the aligned bucks 6 and of the presses 2 and 3. Other changed positions of the wire forms comprising the sleeve holders are also indicated in the drawings, and Fig. 3 illustrates the fore and aft movement of the wire forms from the full line position to the broken line position as indicated by the arrows 55 and 67.

Attention is also directed to Figs. 2 and 5 which illustrate that the ends 68 and 69 of the sleeve forms 31' and 58 are bent at an angle with respect to the normal plane of the wire loops to permit the entire carriage and its associated mechanism to be disposed between the bucks and substantially below the ironing surfaces thereof as best shown in Fig. 2. In this manner, the sleeve layer is disposed out of the way with respect to the bucks of the presses and the entire mechanism is actually disposed below and beneath the gen eral operating plane of the presses. This enhances the speed of the operation of the device and also gives the operator more freedom of movement in handling the shirts while placing the sleeves upon the sleeve holders and in removing the same therefrom. And for installations where two bucks are used and a single head or shoe spanning the space between bucks and above the sleeve layer, the operator can handle a shirt with equal ease as in cases where the double head or shoe units are employed. The operator can dispose the shirt parts such as the yoke and collar in a position away from the head so that the operation of the latter will not dry or mar such parts before they reach their proper presses.

Changes and variations are contemplated in the exact form of the design proposed and in the combination of elements utilized in carrying out the principles of the present invention. All such modifications shall be governed by the breadth and scope of the appended claims directed to the invention and to the respective salient features thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A sleeve layer for use in combination with heated shoe ironing presses comprising a frame secured in fixed relation with respect to said presses, a carriage mounted for movement upon said frame, sleeve holders connected for movement directly with said carriage, and operative means on said carriage to move said sleeve holders toward and away from the ironing surfaces of said presses, said carriage being arranged to move said sleeve holders away from the heated shoes of said presses while placing garment sleeves upon or removing the same from said sleeve holders.

2. A sleeve layer for use in combination with heated shoe ironing presses comprising a frame secured in fixed relation with respect to said presses, a carriage mounted for movement upon said frame, rotatable means connected with said carriage, sleeve holders on said rotatable means, and operative means for said carriage arranged to actuate said rotatable means to move said sleeve holders toward and away from the ironing surfaces of said presses, said carriage being adapted to bodily move said rotatable means and the sleeve holders away from the heated shoes of said presses while placing garment sleeves upon or removing same from said holders.

3. A sleeve layer for use in combination with heated shoe ironing presses comprising a frame secured in fixed relation with respect to said presses, a carriage mounted for movement upon said frame, sleeve holders connected for movement directly with said carriage, and operative means on said carriage to move said sleeve holders toward and away from the ironing surfaces of said presses, said carriage being arranged to move said sleeve holders away from the heated shoes of said presses while placing garment sleeves upon or removing the same from said sleeve holders, and said operative means including a manually operable handle to actuate said operative means, said handle providing means to move said sleeve holders toward and away from said ironing surfaces when manipulated in one direction and acting to move said carriage when manipulated in another direction.

4. A sleeve layer for use in combination with ironing presses comprising sleeve holders, cooperative means to move said sleeve holders toward and away from said presses and to move said holders toward and away from the ironing surfaces of said presses respectively, said sleeve holders each comprising open wire frames terminating with spaced wire ends, said wire ends of each frame having connection with said cooperative means, and resilient clamping mechanisms carried by said cooperative means to secure one of said wire ends of each of said frames thereto and to allow the attached ends of said frames to move relatively with respect to each other to conform with narrow sleeve sizes.

5. A sleeve holder for connection with movable mechanism to position said holder upon the ironing surface of a garment press, comprising an open wire form disposed in a single plane, releasable means for securing the ends of said wire form to said mechanism, resilient means connected with said releasable means to allow contraction of the attached ends of said wire form to accommodate smaller sleeve sizes, and said wire form having deformed means at the sleeve placket end thereof to allow contraction of said latter end to conform to smaller placket sizes. said deformed means further providing means to part adjacent ironed sleeve portions to aid the removal of said sleeve from said form.

DONALD W. SESSIONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,243,1'76 Hlubuck Oct. 16, 1917 1,515,426 Bishop Nov. 11, 1924 2,039,596 Jackson May 5, 1936 2,147,597 Long Feb. 14, 1939 2,287,646 Steele June 23, 1942 2,343,289 Forse Mar. '7, 1944 2,375,947 Robbel May 15, 1945 2,420,818 Davis May 20, 1947 

